- Your flyers will go in the great round filing caninet
- Your emails will never be opened
- Cold calling will be met with nothing but annoyance.
There is no sure fire approach but the best combination I feel is :
- Networking. Get your face, name, business cards out there even if there is no immediate return on your effort
- personalised letters (even when just done with a mail merge), followed by emails, followed by a telephone call that opens with saying that you are calling to ensure that they've got your letter and wondered if they are interested in your services.
Always smile when you are on the phone even though the person on the other end can't see it.
Don't push for work but be happy that they now know your name
Keep sending emails but no more than once per month. A free monthly helpsheet is often a good icebreaker.
Things are seldom instantaneous. Businesses knowing that you have been around for more than five minutes helps so think of this as a long term game.
HTH,
Shaun.
p.s. edited due to gramatical inconsistencies
-- Edited by Shamus on Saturday 28th of April 2012 01:50:49 PM
__________________
Shaun
Responses are not meant as a substitute for professional advice. Answers are intended as outline only the advice of a qualified professional with access to all relevant information should be sought before acting on any response given.
Just wondering when people send out letters do you email them, fax them or send them the old fashion way in the post.
I know Kris on here has done mail shots, and wondered which is the most effective way, not worried how how much the post is costing, its whether people prefer a hard copy in the post, or do you think email is best.
I get some emails advertising etc and I tend to just delete them. Do people think thats if its a letter in the post they are more likely to read it?
Any views please, whether they are negative or positive.
I try to find out the persons name and then personalise the letter. I do sometimes follow up with a call, I had a job where I cold called for 2 years and hated it, so although I did 20 years in Sales, I don't always follow up with a phone call which is bad really. I have started net working again with the accountants that I know, I am on good terms with all of them and started putting the word around last week. The one I'm about to loose is quite large, so I don't want a big one again just a couple of small ones will be nice to fill in the gap.
I might do help sheet, that sounds like a good idea. Anyone got any pointers on what to put in there?? My Englsih was never the best as you can probably tell from my spelling!
The last time I networked it took a while, but paid off in the end.
I always smile Shaun! It was something we had drummed into us in Sales, whether face to face or on the telephone!
sign up for the daily news feeds from Accountancy age and finance director as there is always something good to be harvested from those for a news letter (just put it in your own words to avoid plaigerism).
I know what you mean about cold calling. I did a few months in credit control and to start off with I really hated calling people (often took me minutes of staring at the screen pretending that I was gathering information before picking the phone up).
Actually, I moved that forwards by making out that the issue could be with our computer systems which made them much more accomodating in order to break the ice.
And what do you know, sometimes the problem was with the computer systems or more to the point the muppets who had been doing data input often to the wrong peoples accounts!
Don't worry about your spelling. Between dyslexia and having fingers the size of a small Elephants feet I'm surprised that anyone can ever make head or tail of any of my messages.
Right, off out to buy rabbit food now (the damn pets eat better than I do!),
talk later,
Shaun.
__________________
Shaun
Responses are not meant as a substitute for professional advice. Answers are intended as outline only the advice of a qualified professional with access to all relevant information should be sought before acting on any response given.
Emails have only worked for me for accountants, as an introduction. There are also a lot of spam rules to comply with.
Postcards can work well, they take away the opening decision. If you send letters, try to handwrite the envelopes if you can. It takes longer but have more chance of being opened.
